from raw story: A Congressional committee is preparing to investigate Vice President Dick Cheney's role in water-management decisions that killed more than 70,000 salmon in Oregon.

Three dozen West Coast Democrats requested the Resources Committee investigation after the Washington Post reportedof Cheney's involvement in managing flows from the Klamath River in 2002.

The Post reported that Cheney personally contacted the Interior Department official in charge of the program to push for more irrigation water be delivered from the river to drought-striken farmers and ranchers.

Environmentalists and officials in California and Washington blame the federal policy, which critics say violated the Endangered Species Act, was responsible for the deaths of 70,000 salmon, whose corpses lined the banks of the river. The Post said the plan was enacted "because of Cheney's intervention."

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W. Va., told the Associated Press that the committee is investigating the Bush administration's "penchant to favor politics over science in implementation of the Endangered Species Act."

"It certainly appears this administration will stop at nothing to achieve political gain from natural resources disasters," Rahall added. "Ultimately, it will be hardworking Americans and their healthy environment that will lose if we fail to act."

Democrats say the salmon kill devastated the commercial fishing industries in Oregon and California, with fishermen still feeling the economic effects today.

from national geographic: The Aryan Brotherhood, (also known as the AB or The Brand) is a prison gang numbering about 15,000 members in and out of prison. In March 2006, four leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood were indicted for numerous crimes, including murder, conspiracy, drug trafficking, and racketeering. According to the FBI, the gang is responsible for up to 20% of murders in the federal prison system.

from guardian: Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul will add party crashing to his campaign tactics this weekend.

The Texas congressman, who has struggled to top 1 percent in national polls, wasn't invited to a forum of presidential candidates Saturday in Des Moines. The gathering is sponsored by the Iowa Christian Alliance and the watchdog group Iowans for Tax Relief.

Instead of grumbling, Paul's campaign decided to hold its own party - in the same hall as the forum. They're calling it a celebration of life and liberty.

Campaign spokesman Jesse Benton said it has been frustrating to be excluded, especially since Paul has consistently opposed abortion and is known nationally for his advocacy of lowering taxes.

"It's just a little head-scratching," Benton said.

Ed Failor Jr., executive vice president of Iowans for Tax Relief, said some candidates weren't invited in order to keep the event from stretching on too long.

from daily paul: According to Lew Rockwell's blogger Nick Bradley who was present, the Iowa Rally that was planned by the Ron Paul campaign after he was excluded from a forum put on by the Iowans for Tax Reform and the Iowa Christian Alliance, drew 1,000 people, 400 more than the ITR/ICA rally which had invited all of the other Republican candidates.

from npr: Police defused a car bomb in the busy Haymarket area of central London on Friday, and the new government called an emergency meeting of senior security chiefs to investigate what many feared could have been a planned terror attack.

At a news conference in London, Peter Clarke, a deputy assistant for communications at Scotland Yard, said the vehicle contained a significant amount of fuel, gas canisters and nails.

About 1 a.m. London time an ambulance was called to the popular "Tiger, Tiger" nightclub to tend to an ill person. The car was discovered when the ambulance crew then noticed smoke coming from the vehicle, Clarke said.

A bomb squad was then called to the scene and manually disabled the device, he said.

Authorities were pouring through a "huge amount of CCTV [security]" video, Clarke said.

"If the device had detonated, there could have been significant loss of life," he said, adding later that the number of dead could have been "certainly in the hundreds."

Clarke said it was too early to speculate on who might be responsible, but authorities "are keeping an entirely open mind."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took office on Wednesday, said the incident was a reminder that Britain faces "a serious and continuous threat" and the "need to be alert."

"I will stress to the Cabinet that the vigilance must be maintained over the next few days," Brown said.

The incident comes a week before the second anniversary of the July 7 London bombings, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed themselves and 52 bus and subway passengers.

For more than a year, the government has held the country's terrorist threat level at severe - which means a terrorist attack is highly likely.

The Haymarket is the site of restaurants, bars, a cinema complex and, most famously, theaters. On a Thursday night, the area would have been buzzing with crowds of people. The broad street links Piccadilly Circus in the north to the Pall Mall at its southern end.

Forensic officers in white suits were examining a silver sedan and had placed a blue tent-like cover over the rear of the vehicle, which was parked outside an American Express foreign exchange office.

Sky News broadcast a photograph of the vehicle taken early in the morning, showing a green canister beside the car and the backseat door open with blankets spilling out.

The station cited witnesses as saying doormen from a nearby nightclub had reported that someone had crashed a Mercedes sedan into garbage bins and ran away.

The area around the vehicle was cordoned off as a precaution on Friday morning. London transport officials said the Piccadilly Circus underground train station was closed.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

last week, i had the opportunity to meet dr. bob bowman while he was speaking in portland on his 'patriots tour'... also, at the end of the video you can hear me ask the very last question about ron paul.

from washington post: The United States has invested $19 billion to train and equip nearly 350,000 Iraqi soldiers and police since toppling Saddam Hussein, but the ability of those forces to provide security remains in doubt, according to the findings of a bipartisan congressional investigation to be released today.

As a result, President Bush's pledge to have U.S. troops "stand down" as Iraqi forces "stand up" remains unfulfilled. Instead, U.S. troop numbers and operations have escalated in recent months, and the overall level of violence has not decreased.

Despite the substantial number of Iraqi security forces and their increasing willingness to fight - demonstrated by rising numbers of casualties - their progress toward taking full responsibility for the nation's security remains mixed, according to a report on the investigation by the oversight panel of the House Armed Services Committee. U.S. commanders now predict that it will take years and tens of thousands more Iraqi soldiers and police to achieve that goal.

The Pentagon "cannot report in detail how many of the 346,500 Iraqi military and police personnel that the coalition trained are operational today," according to the 250-page report. Details of the document were provided to The Washington Post by congressional staff members.

"We have no idea what our $19 billion has gotten us," said Rep. Martin T. Meehan (D-Mass.), chairman of the Armed Services subcommittee on oversight and investigations, noting that the United States investment represents $55,000 per Iraqi recruit.

"The DOD can't tell us how well the Iraqis perform their missions or even plan them," he said in an interview. "The police are in particularly bad shape, although they are critical to counterinsurgency."

from alternet: During a speech Monday at Pat Robertson's Regent University, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani indirectly blamed President Clinton for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Echoing arguments offered frequently by Bush administration officials, Giuliani claimed that Clinton treated the 1993 World Trade Center bombing "as a criminal act instead of a terrorist attack," which "emboldened other strikes" on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and Tanzania, and later on the USS Cole. "The United States government, then President Clinton, did not respond," Giuliani said. "Bin Laden declared war on us. We didn't hear it."

from raw story: President Bush suffered a major defeat Thursday as the immigration reform bill was defeated in the Senate. Although there had been strong conservative opposition to the bill, the president had been pushing for it hard the last few weeks.

"The Senate drove a stake Thursday through President Bush's plan to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants, likely postponing major action on immigration until after the 2008 elections," the Associated Press reports...

Bush, seeking to salvage the biggest domestic initiative of his final two years in office, called senators earlier in the morning seeking help.

However, supporters needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to keep the bill alive. Aligned against it were conservatives who derided the legislation as a grant of amnesty for illegal behavior and some Democrats who said it would leave a new group of temporary workers vulnerable to exploitation.

Supporters pointed to the bill's tougher border security and workplace enforcement measures, along with an immediate infusion of $4.4 billion to pay for them, as reasons to keep the bill alive for a final vote Friday.

The carefully crafted compromise was left for dead after a similar vote three weeks ago but was revived by Bush and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, who gave opponents more chances to change it.

This is a clear sign that the establishment media has sunk to yet another all time low. If the daughter of a major insider of the New World Order is on air openly revolting against the type of stories they are covering, it is clear that even the establishment is starting to realize how little credibility they have left.

Devices the size of a grain of rice that are implanted with a needle could give emergency room doctors quick access to the records of chronically ill patients, the nation's largest doctors group said in a report.

The association adopted a policy Monday stating that the devices can improve the "safety and efficiency of patient care" by helping to identify patients and enabling secure access to clinical information.

These radio frequency identification tags (RFIDs) are already used by Wal-Mart and other businesses to speed up their shipping systems by sending out small signals that can be scanned more easily than bar codes.

Implanting them in people "can improve the continuity and coordination of care with resulting reductions in adverse drug events and other medical errors," said the report prepared by the association's ethics committee.

But the devices "also may pose some physical risks, compromise patient privacy, or present other social hazards." ...

They may also cause interference with electrical devices like defibrillators and it has not been determined what impact they would have on prescription drugs.

The report concluded that it is "likely that utilization of RFID devices for medical purposes will expand."

The US Food and Drug Administration has so far only approved "passive" tags for human implantation which cannot be altered once inserted and have a limited capacity and transmission range.

The devices are also only allowed to contain a unique identification code in order to protect patient privacy.

The FDA may eventually approve "active" devices which contain internal batteries and can be updated as a patient's condition changes.

The association warned of "potential social consequences" such as using the devices for surveillance which could be an infringement on individual liberties.

It recommended that the devices not be implanted without the informed consent of patients and that doctors monitor their use.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

from arkansas morning news: Political messages about "9/11" were spray-painted on two of Benton County's trucks Monday, a day after Bentonville police began investigating graffiti on the main county courthouse and annex.

Vandals used silver metallic spray paint to send the message, "9-11 Was An Inside Job," on a Chevy Colorado and a Dodge Durango belonging to the Benton County Assessor's Office.

"I don't know if there is any significance to the color they picked," said Bentonville Police Chief James Allen.

Police also couldn't determine a meaning from the date the vandalism occurred, which was likely Friday night or early Saturday morning.

Allen said there are no suspects and no "usable video camera recording."

Graffiti on the front exterior wall of the courthouse at the top of the steps facing the square read "9/11 = Inside Job," also in silver metallic letters. Other versions of the message were found on interior side of the four marble pillars.

The Web site features conspiracy theories alleging the U.S. government's involvement in the terrorist bombings of Sept. 11, 2001.

Police do not associate the vandalism with gang activity because "it's not the typical writing, and gang acts are always tagged by their name ... emblem or signature of who it is."

One of the restrooms at Dave Peel Park was also painted with graffiti messages.

A few months ago the Parks Department staff found spray-painted symbols on the back side of the restroom building. "This is the first time" the graffiti has involved the 9/11 statements, said city Parks Director Doug Glaysher.

County and city personnel cleaned or painted over much of the graffiti by Monday afternoon.

update: 'on the map' with avi lewis - war on drugs (june 21, 2007)Avi talks to Andre Hollis, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics. He's one of the author's of America's appoach in Colombia, and a player in the current plans for Afghanistan...

from bbc: Opium production in Afghanistan is soaring out of control, the annual UN report on illegal drugs says.

The World Drug Report says more than 90% of illegal opium, which is used to make heroin, comes from Afghanistan.

It says cultivation of opium poppies increased dramatically in the country, despite the presence of more than 30,000 international troops there.

The report says Afghanistan is unlikely to regain real security until the production of illegal drugs is tackled.

In the 1980s, Afghanistan produced some 30% of the world's opium, but now that figure has more than tripled, the UN document says.

It says that Helmand province alone cultivates almost half the world's illegal opium.

Thomas Pietschmann, the report's author, says production in Helmand has now outstripped that of entire countries.

"The province of Helmand itself is around 70,000 hectares under cultivation, which is three times the total area under cultivation in Myanmar (Burma).

"So only one province, three times as important as the whole of Myanmar, the second-largest opium-producing country," Mr Pietschmann says.

The report says that while global co-ordination of drug law enforcement has improved, traffickers of heroin from Afghanistan and of cocaine from Colombia are now targeting new routes in Africa.

The UN says this threat must be addressed immediately if Africa - already struggling under the burden of HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria - is to avoid the serious health damage caused by drug abuse.

The report also shows that the overall market for illicit drugs remained relatively stable in 2005-2006.

from trueworks: Maxed Out takes viewers on a journey deep inside the American style of debt, where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time.

With coverage that spans from small American towns all the way to the White House, the film shows how the modern financial industry really works, explains the true definition of "preferred customer" and tells us why the poor are getting poorer while the rich keep getting richer.

Hilarious, shocking and incisive, Maxed Out paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for most of us.

Monday, June 25, 2007

from ap/my way: Ex-EPA chief Christie Whitman denounced as "downright falsehoods" the criticism of her assurances that it was safe to breathe the air around the fallen World Trade Center.

"There are people to blame. They are the terrorists that attacked the United States, not the men and women of all levels of government," Whitman said Monday at a hearing where she faced some of her toughest congressional critics.

He opened the session by saying the Bush administration "has continued to make false, misleading and inaccurate statements, and refused to take remedial actions, even in the face of overwhelming evidence."

update: whitman testifies before house subcommitteefrom talking points memo: In today's episode of TPMtv, we show you Whitman resting contentedly on the reassurances she pushed at the time, seemingly willfully ignorant of the number of workers and residents who have grown sick and dying in the ensuing years...

from raw story: A new Newsweek poll out this weekend exposed "gaps" in America's knowledge of history and current events.

Perhaps most alarmingly, 41% of Americans answered 'Yes' to the question "Do you think Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was directly involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001?"

That total is actually up 5 points since September 2004.

Further, a majority of people couldn't identify Saudi Arabia as the country of origin of most of the 9/11 hijackers, even given the question in multiple choice format. 20% answered Iraq, while 14% believed the hijackers came from Iran.

A majority (52%) believe the US is losing the war against al Qaeda, however Newsweek disagrees. In the magazine's reporting of the poll, they made judgment that the US is in fact not "losing the fight against al-Qaeda or radical Islamic terrorism."

Closer to home, 89% of Americans are unable to name the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (John Roberts), though a majority of those polled were able to name Nancy Pelosi as the current Speaker of the House.

A large majority of people said they didn't know or didn't care who the winner of this year's American Idol competition was (or at least weren't willing to admit it).

In an indignant voice she decried the Bush administration's "stunning record of secrecy and corruption, of cronyism run amok. . . It is everything our founders were afraid of, everything our Constitution was designed to prevent." Actually, our Constitution grants Congress the power to prevent these ills but Hillary and her colleagues weren't up to the task.

Our founders' legacy did not stop Hillary from voting for the Patriot Act and then supporting its renewal in 2006 despite revelations that the government was using it to infringe on the very liberties that our founders held sacred. Where was her commitment to our founders when she voted to gut our habeas corpus protections?

As for cronyism -- Hillary has repeatedly authorized billions that the Pentagon gave in no-bid contracts to Halliburton. Even though the Democrats have been in control of Congress for months, they still haven't summoned Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld and the other usual suspects to account for the missing millions in reconstruction funding.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

from blacklisted news/rogue government: Lee Rogers interviews Congressman and Presidential candidate Ron Paul about a myriad of issues in this interview. Lee discusses the following topics with Dr. Paul in this half hour interview. (from june 22, 2007)

In an interview with RogueGovernment.com, the Texas congressman compares the Browns to Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Junior. He says the Browns are suffering like those leaders.

The Browns are holed up in their Plainfield (New Hampshire) home and have threatened violence against federal officials if marshals come to arrest them. They were convicted of an elaborate scheme to hide millions of dollars in income. Their protest has become a rallying cry for anti-tax activists and militia members.

update2: ron paul denies report he praised the browns

from boston globe: Texas Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul said he did not compare a New Hampshire couple who refuses to pay taxes with Gandhi.

On Fox News Channel today, Paul said he doesn't know much about the case of Ed and Elaine Brown on Plainfield, N.H. but that he, like Ghandi, doesn't believe in violence to protest wrongs and it has appeared that the Browns have chosen another path.

His comments on Fox News were consistent with what he said in an interview with the Globe during his first visit to New Hampshire in the winter.

The Browns are currently holed up in their residence surrounded by US Marshalls. They said they will either die or go free, but say they will not pay their taxes because they believe their are unconstitutional.

The Associated Press put up a report on from rougegovernment.com (ed: why, when it comes to bloggers, can't major news outlets check the source? if they even cite them at all, it's mangled or misspelled. it's ROGUE, not ROUGE!) that quoted Paul as saying the Browns were like Gandhi.

so, i went back and watched part1 of the rogers report interview... and i have to concede that ron paul seems to compare the browns to mlk & gandhi. we could argue about the semantics of it, but just watch the video and decide for yourself...

Saturday, June 23, 2007

from alex ansary: After three days at the lifesong wilderness school, I share some information that I learned. To learn more about this particular place and what you can learn, go to lifesong adventures

from wnbc: Former Secretary of the Environmental Protection Agency Christine Todd Whitman said Thursday that the Giuliani administration appeared to be more concerned with its image than the safety and speedy response of EPA employees in the wake of the 2001 anthrax scare.

Her comments came in an interview with WNBC.com's Brian Thompson at her Hunterdon County farm, where the former New Jersey governor also addressed criticism of the EPA's handling of health concerns at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Her criticism of the Giuliani administration centered on the EPA's inspection of 30 Rockefeller Center after a letter containing anthrax arrived at the NBC building nearly six years ago.

While Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and then-New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik were taking command of the scene, Whitman said the city would not allow the EPA inspectors to be seen entering 30 Rock in their hazmat suits. Instead, the city wanted a tent to be set up where they first could change into the gear hidden from public view.

from la times: With the release of Michael Moore's "Sicko," a movie once again is adding sizzle to an issue that's a high priority for liberal politicians — this time comprehensive health insurance for all. But unlike Al Gore's film on global warming, which helped rally support on an equally controversialproblem, "Sicko" is creating an awkward situation for the leading Democratic presidential candidates.

(remember: 'al-qaida' literally means 'the database'. it was the name of the computer file of the mujahideen who were funded & trained by the cia to fight the russians. do you fucking get it, yet? even if all this terrorism bullshit is real, who do we have to blame?)

from salon: Josh Marshall publishes an e-mail from a reader who identifies what is one of the most astonishing instances of mindless, pro-government "reporting" yet:

It's a curious thing that, over the past 10 - 12 days, the news from Iraq refers to the combatants there as "al-Qaida" fighters. When did that happen?

Until a few days ago, the combatants in Iraq were "insurgents" or they were referred to as "Sunni" or "Shia'a" fighters in the Iraq Civil War. Suddenly, without evidence, without proof, without any semblance of fact, the US military command is referring to these combatants as "al-Qaida".

from schlessinger video: Cocaine is a highly addictive and widely abused stimulant. In 'Cocaine & Crack' (1991), students delve into the history of cocaine and examine this dangerous drug's impact on the individual and society as a whole.

With vivid animations and gritty interviews, students learn harsh facts about the effects of using both the powder and crystal form of cocaine.

This program explores the desperate cycle of tolerance, physical dependence and addiction that many abusers face and showcases the physical and psychological damage that occurs as cocaine changes the brain's chemistry.

and now for something i never thought i'd write:here's the new 'protest' song from mc hammer!

i have to put 'protest' in quotes because he says that he voted for bush, he believes the official 9/11 conspiracy theory & he loves the war on terror... but, at least, he says it's time bring the troops home from iraq.

The so-called "Family Jewels" document overseas assassination attempts, domestic spying, kidnapping and infiltration of leftist groups from the 1950s to the 1970s, according to a summary posted on the Web site of the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

The documents to be released next week also include accounts of break-ins and theft, surveillance of U.S. journalists, the agency's opening of private mail to and from China and the Soviet Union, and "behavior modification" experiments on "unwitting" U.S. civilians.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

pentagon funds gay bombs & armed sharksfrom abc: Creating armor that renders a soldier invisible. Stimulating the brain to suppress sleep for days. Arming sharks with chemical implants and cameras to work as spies. This year the Pentagon will spend $78 billion - about half of all government research and development dollars - on a variety of projects, according to the American Association for the Advancement for Science.

special ops forces conducting activities on US soilfrom blacklisted news/examiner: The U.S. military command in charge of protecting the homeland asked the Pentagon earlier this year for a contingent of special operations officers to help with domestic anti-terrorism missions. Military sources told The Examiner that U.S. Northern Command, established at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado in 2002, requested its own special operations command similar to ones assigned to overseas war-fighting commands, such as U.S. Central Command.

did bush's grandfather steal geronimo's skull?from abc: It has all the ingredients for the ultimate conspiracy theory. Take President Bush and his father, throw in a legendary Apache chief, strange rituals performed in the dead of night in a building named the Tomb, grave robbing, and a secret society of elite students called Skull and Bones.related: skeletons in the bush family cupboard

rudy's campaign chair busted for cokefrom the stump: Meet Thomas Ravenel. He's South Carolina's Treasurer, a rising political star, the state chairman of Rudolf Giuliani's campaign for president (until yesterday), and friendly neighborhood coke distributor. We're not talking soda, either. What is it with Giuliani's friends? FirstBernard Kerik, now Ravenel. The silver lining to all of this, however, is that we now have a brilliant new simile to add to the English vernacular: He's like a coke fiend in the treasurer's office!

judge orders fbi to turn over 1000s of patriot act abuse docsfrom blacklisted news/wired: Just one day after a news that an internal audit found that FBI agents abused a Patriot Act power more than 1000 times, a federal judge ordered the agency Friday to begin turning over thousands of pages of documents related to the agency's use of a powerful, but extremely secretive investigative tool that can pry into telephone and internet records.

but say it's not enough "for a terrorist action"from winter patriot: A Colorado man is free on $50,000 bond after a police search of his house discovereda cache of weapons, explosives and volatile chemicals.

Ronald Swerlein of Longmont, CO, attracted the attention of his neighbors by setting off explosions in his garage. Police had been seeking tips after several small homemade explosives were found in a local parking lot nearly three weeks ago.

A police search of the Swerlein home turned up hundreds of volatile chemicals and other weapons, as well as books about bomb-making and revenge.

Swerlein says he's been experimenting with various chemicals to use as rocket fuel.

According to reports from Colorado, police confiscated nitroglycerin, ammonium nitrate, PETN, thermite, and sodium azide, none of which are used as rocket fuels. They also discovered laboratory-grade glassware worth thousands of dollars.

Ammonium nitrate is the basic ingredient in so-called fertilizer bombs; PETN is an ingredient in plastic explosives; sodium azide produces a toxic gas when it comes into contact with metal; and nitroglycerin is a well-known (and extremely unstable) liquid explosive. Thermite, as most 9/11 researchers know, can be used to cut steel and may have been involved in the demolition of the three World Trade Center buildings which disintegrated on September 11, 2001.

Longmont Police Sgt. Tim Lewis said the police had seized "cartloads of weapons ... more than I have ever seen in our armory."

Despite the size of the cache and the volatility of the chemicals involved, Sgt. Lewis told reporters that Swerlein had not created enough chemical explosives “for a terrorist action,” although he did have enough to damage his home and others in his neighborhood.

Sgt. Lewis also said, "This investigation is still in its infancy. We're still trying to determine what his intent was."

Considering that the perpetrators of the most extravagant terrorist attack ever committed on American soil were allegedly armed only with box-cutters, it is incomprehensible that a cache of weapons and explosives larger than the Longmont police have in their armory could be described as insufficient for a terrorist action.

How much nitroglycerin does one need to commit an act of terrorism? Or does that depend on one's religion or the color of one's skin?

And why has this case attracted so little national attention? Or does that depend on religion and skin color, too?

from bring it on!: Israel currently receives $2.4 billion annually in military aid. This is in addition to the dozens of million dollar loans given to Israel of which most have been forgiven. Since 1973, Israel has cost the United States about $1.6 trillion. If divided by today’s population, that is more than $5,700 for every man, woman and child in Israel, yet Israel is listed as one of the top twenty wealthiest nations.

Sure would be nice if our own government could hand every man woman and child in the United States $5,700. Nope, instead we get some bullshit tax break from Bush amounting to a couple hundred bucks.

PS: U.S. law prohibits the President from providing military aid to any country that “engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights”. Under the 1967 US Arms Export Control Act, it is illegal to use U.S. weapons to carry out extra-judicial killings. This act stipulates that weapons be sold to “friendly countries solely for internal security and legitimate defense.” Since September 2000, the Israeli army has used U.S. made attack helicopters, tanks and F-16 missiles to target Palestinian civilians, homes, forces and buildings. These same weapons were used to invade Lebanon last summer.

from global research: Osama bin Laden may have chartered a plane that carried his family members and Saudi nationals out of the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks, said FBI documents released Wednesday.

The papers, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, were made public by Judicial Watch, a Washington-based group that investigates government corruption.

One FBI document referred to a Ryan Air 727 airplane that departed Los Angeles International Airport on September 19, 2001, and was said to have carried Saudi nationals out of the United States.

"The plane was chartered either by the Saudi Arabian royal family or Osama bin Laden," according to the document, which was among 224 pages posted online.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

from raw story: On Tuesday, Ron Paul, a 10-term congressman from Texas and a Republican Presidential candidate, expressed serious doubts about the chances of a GOP victory in the 2008 Presidential race if the nominee is a 'pro-war' hawk.

"I don't see how any Republican candidate can possibly win next year as being proponents of war and with the intention of spreading war into Iran," he told MSNBC News. "And it looks like it's going to happen if we don't have a new foreign policy.

Instead of divisiveness, Paul believes that the G.O.P must expand its reach. "The party has to be more open and invite others to come in. If they deal with their so-called 'base,' the base is shrinking."

Paul, a constitutional conservative who favors low taxes, small government and a non-interventionist foreign policy, trails Republican front runner Rudy Giuliani by 27 points in some polls. But he cautioned that the race is far from over. "Just think of how [Fred] Thompson coming into the race will change things in the Republican Party," he said. "There's further dilution of the pro-war vote."

The Congressman is hoping that his internet popularity could propel him into contention. And changes in the election format might not hurt either. "We're planning on having the election on the internet and then on C-SPAN," he joked. "And we're going to do quite well."

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

"The report, prepared by the CIA's inspector general, is the only major 9/11 government review that has still not been made publicly available," Michael Isikoff reported in January. "When it was completed in August 2005, Newsweek and other publications reported that it contained sharp criticisms of former CIA director George Tenet and other top agency officials for failing to address the threat posed by Al Qaeda, as well as other mistakes that might have prevented the attacks."

"Almost six years have passed since the attacks of September 11, 2001, yet critical information continues to be withheld from the American public regarding the attacks.

In 2002, after reviewing the evidence produced by the Joint Inquiry of Congress into the 9/11 Attacks, both Republican and Democratic Congressmen agreed that a CIA Inspector General review into individual responsibility was necessary... Faced with the facts, these Congressmen understood that accountability in the Intelligence Community was crucial.

Their intent was that a final declassified CIA/IG report be released to the public and where deemed appropriate by the report, for personnel at all levels to be held accountable for any omission, commission, or failure to meet professional standards in regard to the events of September 11, 2001. To date, despite enormous efforts from the Senate Intelligence Committee, nothing has happened."

from blacklisted news/abc: Calling the federal agents surrounding his fortified compound "guns for hire," a New Hampshire man convicted of tax evasion vowed today that he and his wife would fight U.S. marshals to the death if they tried to capture them.

"Do not under any circumstances make any attempt on this land. We will not accept any tomfoolery by any criminal element, be it federal, state or local," said Ed Brown in a press conference from the stoop of his concrete-clad home in Plainfield, N.H. "We either walk out of here free or we die."

Brown and his wife, Elaine, were sentenced in absentia in April to serve 63 months in prison for failing to pay more than $1 million in income tax.

The couple, however, insists that there is no law that requires citizens to pay income tax.

"There is no law. We looked and looked," Brown told the press.

Brown and his supporters, including Randy Weaver, leader of the 1992 standoff with ATF agents at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, told the press that the government has unlawfully tricked people into believing they have to pay income tax, knowing full well that such a law would be unconstitutional.

"We will defend it to the death. This is 1776 all over again. You cannot tax someone's labor because that is slavery," Brown said.

Carrying a pistol in his waistband, Brown also insisted that he could not receive a fair trial in a federal court because "the court system falls under freemasonry."

"There [are] no longer any lawful courts. The Freemasons have taken over our nation. … [Freemasons want] to take over our nation and all nations on the planet," Brown said.

Weaver, whose son was killed by federal agents and who later received a $100,000 settlement from the government, said he was there to support the Browns.

"I'd rather die on my feet right here than die on my knees under this de facto government," he said. "Bring it on."

from jones report: Academy Award winner Michael Moore answered questions on 9/11 truth during a sneak peak of his new documentary, SiCKO, in New York . Our reporters were initially avoided by Moore, but he subsequently decided to approach We Are Change & Infowars reporters for a discussion.

Moore brought up his lingering questions on 9/11, which are a clear departure from the 'government negligence' picture he painted in his film Fahrenheit 9/11, released some three years ago.

Moore told reporters, "I've had a number of firefighters tell me over the years and since Fahrenheit 9/11 that they heard these explosions-- that they believe there's MUCH more to the story than we've been told. I don't think the official investigations have told us the complete truth-- they haven't even told us half the truth."

Michael Moore brought up the blackout of video at the site of the alleged Pentagon plane crash on his own, appearing quite willing to discuss subjects that so-called left gatekeepers have previously refused to raise questions about.

"I've filmed there before down at the Pentagon-- before 9/11-- there's got to be at least 100 cameras, ringing that building, in the trees, everywhere. They've got that plane coming in with 100 angles. How come with haven't seen the straight-- I'm not talking about stop-action photos, I'm talking about the video. I want to see the video; I want to see 100 videos that exist of this," Moore said.

He went on to imply the implausibility of a pilot executing the flight pattern of the flight that allegedly hit the Pentagon.

"Why don't they want us to see that plane coming into the building? Because, if you know anything about flying a plane, when you're going 500 miles per hour, if you're off by that much, you're in the river. So, they hit a building that's only 5 stories high...[unclear] that expertly. I believe that there will be answers in that video tape and we should demand that that tape is released."

Michael Moore was not vague or bashful in discussing 9/11 truth-- rather, he demanded a "new investigation before we get too far away from this-- to find out the whole truth."

"And I intend, in my own way, to find some answers," Moore added. "Thank you for doing whatever you're doing."

Amy Goodman, who was also at the premiere, cowered from a question that brought up the fact that she witnessed WTC Building 7 collapse-- she was seen on video during news coverage of the apparent demolition. She declined even a brief response, stating that an interview was about to begin.

Moore's most recent comments on 9/11 are a far cry from statements he made to Alex Jones during the 2004 RNC convention when he told Jones, tongue-in-cheek, that he didn't report on NORAD standing down because "it would be un-American."

This is a huge development in public figures going public with 9/11 questions-- particularly on the part of 'liberals' and others who identify with the 'left.' Despite overwhelming discontent with the Bush Administration, many such voices dismiss the importance of investigating 9/11 or simply decline to discuss any outstanding questions or relevant evidence. Noam Chomsky, for one, suggested that it "wouldn't matter" even if 9/11 had been hatched from a government plot.

Will the mainstream media continue to ignore the fact that the official story on 9/11 is all but dead as more and more figures are coming forth to demand the truth?

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